Chapter 6 – The America Revolution



Chapter 16 – The Civil War

Section 1

I. A Nation Divided

i. The war would tear not only the nation, but families apart. Relatives would fight one another across the battlefield (brothers, fathers and sons, neighbor and neighbor) or in the work that they did to support each side.

ii. The Civil War begins at Fort Sumter

iii. It unified the North and brought forth feelings of patriotism and dedication to the Union

iv. When Lincoln calls for up to 75,000 volunteers, thousands of young men signed up

1. In response, many thousands of young Confederate men signed up to fight for their cause

a. The states choose sides

i. When the Civil War broke out, only 7 of the 15 slave states had seceded

1. South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas

2. After Lincoln calls for troops for the Union, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee join the Confederacy

a. Virginia is split into 2 parts: the east (planters) backed the Confederacy and the west (people in the mountains) supported the Union

i. In 1863, the western part of the state would become West Virginia and would be accepted into the Union as a state

ii. Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky and Missouri were all slave states between the Union and Confederacy and had divided loyalties

1. Kentucky started neutral but ended up Union

2. Missouri stayed Union

3. Delaware also sided with the Union

4. Maryland stayed Union but had to have troops sent in to restrain Confederate sympathizers

iii. War was more than simply between slave and free states, it was about whether or not the Union could be dissolved!

b. Union and Confederate resources

i. Each side thought that the war could be won in only a few weeks time

ii. Union Resources/Advantages

1. Had more people (for fighting, working on farms and in factories, 17 times more textiles)

2. More raw materials and factories (90% of the nation’s industrial capacity, 15 times more iron, 32 times more firearms)

3. More money

4. More railroads (24 times more locomotives, for moving troops and supplies)

5. Large navy (11 times more ships for blockading)

6. Fighting for a cause – to restore the Union

iii. Confederate Resources/Advantages

1. Geographic advantage of fighting on their own turf

a. Familiar land and support of the civilian population

b. Army could be supplied close to home

2. A long military tradition

a. Better at riding horses and handling weapons

b. Officers were made up of US Army soldiers who sided with the Confederates

3. Major supplier of cotton to Great Britain and France

a. Hoped that this would lead those foreign nations to side with them

4. Fighting for a cause they truly believed in – right to separate from the Union and establish their own government

a. Look at the Union’s attempt to restore the Union as a violation of Southern independence

c. Presidential Leadership

i. Abraham Lincoln

1. Little experience in political or military matters

2. Thoughtful, forceful and patient leader

3. Skills to handle people and wisdom to choose good cabinet members

4. Quick to make decisions

5. Declared martial law – allowed the military to arrest anyone suspected of helping the enemy

a. Writ of habeas corpus, the right of a person arrested to a court order requiring that the prisoner be brought before a court to determine whether a person is being held illegally, was suspended

i. Unless evidence is presented by the government that the person has committed a specific crime, the accused must be released

ii. Lincoln ordered that those civilians that were suspected of being disloyal to the Union held without trial

6. Did not limit freedoms of speech or the press

a. Allowed Congress to question his policies and permitted newspapers to criticize his actions

7. Won support for the union cause

ii. Jefferson Davis

1. Much experience from years of public service

2. Dedicated to the Confederate cause

3. Spent too much time figuring military details best left to his generals

a. Led to many disagreements with generals and advisors

4. Lacked leadership in dealing with Southern economic problems

a. Shortages of food and supplies for troops and civilians

5. Some Confederate state governors resisted Confederate policies that they believed violated state rights

a. Opposed the drafting of men to serve in the Confederate Army

Section 2

I. Early Years of the War

i. Each side hoped for an early victory by capturing the other’s capital

ii. Confederacy planned to fight a more defensive war, protecting what they had

1. They also planned to take any chance to move into Maryland and central Pennsylvania

2. Wanted to break the Union’s blockade as well

iii. Union had a three part plan

1. Try to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond Virginia

2. Attempt to gain control of the Mississippi and Tennessee river valleys to divide the north

3. Blockade the Southern coastline to keep goods from going into and out of the Confederacy

a. A Confederate victory

i. Southern Army led by General P.G.T. Beauregard at Manassas Junction in Virginia

1. Major railroad center near Washington, D.C.

ii. Northern Army led by General Irvin McDowell

1. Planned to lead his troops against Beauregard and then proceed to Richmond

iii. They meet on July 21, 1861

1. Called the First Battle of Bull Run

2. Confederates are aided by General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson

3. Confederates defeat the Union army, who flee to Washington

4. Rather than pursue and finish the Union, the Confederate soldiers celebrate

a. This could have led to the Confederates pushing to Washington and overtaking it

b. This would have ended the war and the independence of the Confederacy

5. The defeat at Bull Run ended all hopes for a quick victory by the Union

a. Because of the loss, Lincoln appoints General George McClellan to lead the Army of the Potomac

i. Graduate of West Point

ii. Excellent at training soldiers but slow at leading them into battle

b. The war in the West

i. While McClellan delays, General Ulysses S. Grant attacks and captures 2 Confederate forts in Tennessee

1. Took 14,000 prisoners

2. Forced the Confederates to withdraw from Kentucky and middle Tennessee

ii. Grant and his men are surprised the Confederates at Shiloh, TN and only win the battle because of reinforcements that arrived and the Confederates retreat to Corinth, Mississippi

1. 13,000 Union casualties

2. 11,000 Confederate casualties

3. Because of the high rate of casualties, some call for Grant’s removal which Lincoln refuses

4. Union army would take Memphis, TN in late June

c. The Union Blockade

i. Union navy helped achieve the goal of controlling the Mississippi River

ii. In April, 1862, Union navy captured the port of New Orleans to give the Union control of the mouth of the Mississippi River

1. Weakened the Southern economy by shutting off its supplies

2. By 1863, the Union controlled most Southern ports and created large supply shortages

iii. North had ship building in the North and trained seamen

1. Began with 47 warships and grew to 671 of many kinds

2. Confederacy ended up with only 37 armored ships

a. Raided Northern ships and stole supplies

b. Couldn’t defend the entire Southern coastline or rivers

iv. Ironclads

1. Southern navy’s most famous ship was the Merrimack, which was renamed the Virginia, a captured Northern warship

a. First ironclad to enter the war

b. Sank several Northern wooden ships off Virginia coastline trying to break the blockade

2. Famous battle between the Virginia and the Monitor, a Union ironclad on March 9, 1862

a. Battled for 4 hours with neither sinking

b. Showed the South that the North was unwilling to give up the blockade

c. After this battle, both sides began to produce more ironclad warships

d. The Confederacy seeks foreign support

i. South needs help to break the Union blockade

ii. Ask France and Great Britain because of their dependency on cotton

1. Because its used as a negotiating tool, the Confederates were said to be using King Cotton Diplomacy’

iii. Sent James Mason and John Slidell to negotiate

1. Neither accomplished much

2. France and Britain didn’t have a shortage of cotton, they had a surplus from the South prior to the war

3. Cotton from India and Egypt were being used by 1863

4. Didn’t have to depend upon the South anymore

iv. Britain was willing to provide support only if the Confederates were winning battles

v. France and Britain didn’t recognize the South as an independent nation, but that they were at war with the North

1. Because of this, private individuals from the South were able to buy and outfit ships in neutral ports

2. Many of the Southern raiding ships came from British shipyards, damaging Northing shipping and forcing ships from the seas

e. The war in the East

i. McClellan was finally ready to head to Richmond of April of 1862, moving to a peninsula formed by the York and James Rivers

1. Here he paused and waited for reinforcements that never came

2. By the end of May, Confederate forces led by General Joseph Johnson went on the offensive and attacked McClellan, who would have lost had his own backup troops not arrived

3. Johnson is injured in battle and General Robert E. Lee is appointed to lead the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia

ii. General Lee, who was a West Point graduate and a hero of the Mexican War, was respected by both sides

1. Lincoln asked him to lead the Union forces, but although he disliked slavery and secession, refused to fight his fellow Virginians

2. Lee took over to push McClellan from Richmond, no clear winner and McClellan retreats

a. Lincoln has General Hallack to take over and sends McClellan to join up with General John Pope to attack Richmond

b. Because of McClellan’s slow moving, Lee meets up with Pope first and with Stonewall Jackson defeat the Union at the Second Battle of Bull Run

i. Pope is stripped of his command and McClellan is now head of the Army of the Potomac

3. Lee’s next plan is to go to Maryland and isolate the Union capital from the rest of the North

a. McClellan and Lee meet at Antietam, Maryland on September 17, 1862

b. Bloodiest one day battle takes place

i. 5,000 dead and 18,000 wounded

ii. Neither side wins

iii. Lee falls back to Richmond to protect his supply lines

iv. Lincoln blames McClellan for letting the Confederates escape and promoted General Burnside as the new commander of the Army of the Potomac

4. Burnside’s first action is at Fredericksburg, Maryland on December 13, 1862

a. Confederates are in trenches in the hillside and in better position

b. Union loses the battle and twice as many men as the Confederates

i. 1862 ends with bitter failure for the Union on the eastern front

Section 3

I. The Coming of Emancipation

i. At the beginning of the war, the North said it was fighting to restore the Union but because of abolitionists and the threat of a long war began to change Northern views

a. Addressing the slavery issue

i. Lincoln had some concerns about making the war about slavery

1. He was afraid it would anger the border slave states that were supporting the Union

2. He believed in a gradual voluntary emancipation, releasing them from slavery, by the states with the government paying the slaveholders for their loss of property

3. Was worried about the strong prejudice against blacks by those in the North and the South

a. He looked for places outside of the US for them to colonize and live if freed

ii. Many Republicans believed in the idea of emancipation

1. They thought it would destroy their economy

b. The Emancipation Proclamation

i. Lincoln gives in to public pressure

1. Waits until a Union victory

a. At Antietam, after McClellan stopped Lee

2. His first proclamation stated:

a. Confederate states that surrendered to the Union in 100 days would get to keep their slaves

ii. Since no Confederate states responded to his offer, on January 1, 1862 he issued the Emancipation Proclamation

1. It stated that all slaves in areas under Confederate control “ shall be…forever free”

a. Didn’t free the slaves in border states

b. Didn’t free slaves in Confederate territory under Union control

c. Slaves were being freed for the war effort not because they were human beings

d. Did make the abolition of slavery a goal for the Union

iii. Many slaves ran off looking for Union troops

1. Only ¼ of the slaves gained their freedom during the war due to the Emancipation Proclamation

c. The black role in the war

i. At the beginning of the war, free blacks were not accepted into the Union army

1. 200,000 blacks would eventually join the Army, the majority freed slaves, and would contribute to the North’s victory

2. Black soldiers faced many difficulties

a. Placed in all black units with white officers

b. Paid less, $11/month for black soldiers, $13 for white soldiers

c. Used as guards and workers to do chores

d. Would eventually serve as scouts, spies and members of raiding parties

e. Some would see action in major battles

i. 54th Massachusetts Colored Regiment, first black unit recruited during the war

f. Some served in the Union navy

ii. Black soldiers and sailors would win medals during the war

iii. Due to the Emancipation Proclamation, slave owners had greater difficulty controlling their slaves

1. Many walked off when Union forces arrived

2. Union army would give them food and clothing

3. Slave labor was important to the Southern economy because it raised food and produced goods for the war effort

4. They didn’t serve in the Confederate army until the end of the war but by then it was too late

d. The 13th Amendment

i. Lincoln took 3 steps to ensure that slavery was permanently abolished, not just blacks freed during the war

1. He would recognize loyal state governments in the South, under Union control, if they abolished slavery in their constitutions

2. Encouraged the freeing of slaves in border states

3. Called for an amendment to the Constitution outlawing slavery

a. Became a plank in the Republican platform during the presidential election of 1864

b. January 1, 1865, by a small margin, the House of Representatives approved the 13th Amendment

c. This made the cause of restoring the Union and abolishing slavery, why we were fighting, one in the same

Section 4

I. Life During the War

i. As war went on, both sides needed more food supplies and other goods for both their armies and their people

ii. Also, the need for money to finance the war and people to fight in it increased

a. Production and finance

i. The South had a harder time meeting its needs for the army and the people

1. Difficult to get goods from foreign countries due to the Union blockade

2. Built more factories and mills to produce the items they needed

3. Planters cut back on cotton to grow wheat and other foods

4. Harder to move goods because of what the Union army had taken over (waterways and railways)

ii. The North had it easier

1. Highly industrialized

a. More profits for individuals

2. Farming was highly mechanized, making it quicker and producing larger quantities of foods

a. Producing for army and the people, as well as exporting to other countries

iii. Financing the war was hard for both sides

1. The South borrowed some from foreign countries, raised taxes and sold government bonds to the people

a. South also printed billions of dollars in Confederate currency

i. Because of the lack of gold and silver to back up the money, inflation takes place

ii. At the end of the war, the Confederate dollar was worth about two cents

2. The North had an easier time raising money

a. Money gained from import duties

b. Selling government bonds to the citizens

c. Printed large amount of money backed by the government, greenbacks, but not by gold

i. This will cause some inflation in the North

ii. At the end of the war, the greenback was worth 75 cents, as it rose and fell with Northern success and failure on the battlefield

b. Serving in the war

i. Was easier to get recruits at the beginning of the war than after it started

ii. The Confederacy instituted a draft (ages 18 to 35) in 1862 but one could hire a substitute to serve in their place and it exempted certain professions (teachers, civil servants, clergy and masters of more than 20 slaves or their overseer)

1. Many viewed it as a rich man’s war fought by the poor

2. By 1864, the draft changed to all white men (17 to 50) but still did not include large slave owners

iii. The Union would also have recruitment problems

1. 1863, all men 20 to 45 were liable for service in the army

a. Allowed recruits to hire substitutes or pay $300 to be excused from duty

2. Becomes quite unpopular

3. Many did not want to die to win the freedom of slaves

4. Leads to riots in some cities like New York in July 1863

a. More than a dozen blacks are lynched (put to death, usually by hanging)

b. 120 people die before federal troops restore order

5. Government would begin to issue bounties (rewards) of up to $1,000 to enlist in the army

c. Life of the ordinary soldier

i. Union soldiers called Billy Yanks

1. Ate and drank: coffee, beans, salt pork and hardtack – a hard biscuit that resisted spoiling

ii. Confederate soldiers called Johnny Rebs

1. Lived on bacon and cornbread

2. Many went days with little or no food

iii. Most had little or no fighting experience

1. Many aged 18 or 19, oldest being about 30

2. During the war, children aged 10 and men over 30 served

3. When not fighting, some read, wrote letters, played cards and even baseball. They also sang.

iv. After a day’s battles, soldiers from both sides might have spoken about pay, the weather, home life and peace.

d. American Indians and the war

i. Like the blacks, there were regiments of American Indians led by white commanders

ii. The war would divide tribes

iii. Fighting between tribes and whites would extend parts of the war to the far west of the frontier

1. Many times, the Indians were simply trying to keep its lands and maintain its way of life

2. Occasionally led to massacres by the army commanders

e. Women in the war

i. Women served on both sides

1. Many as nurses and establishing hospitals

2. Some served as spies

3. Some took the place of men in factories and farms

4. Even with being vital to the war effort, women would not be equal with men politically or economically.

Section 5

I. Fight to the Finish

i. By 1863, the war was becoming a burden

1. The Confederates were having a hard time getting food and other supplies

2. The Union needed a couple of victories to boost morale

a. A turning point

i. In May 1863, Confederate General Lee defeats Union General Hooker at Chancellorsville, Virginia

1. Caused heavy Union losses

2. Stonewall Jackson, on his way back to camp, is mistakenly shot as a Union soldier and dies

ii. From May 1863 to July 1863, General Grant (cut off from his own supplies and marching into certain death) starves the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi into submission

1. Takes control of the entire Mississippi River

2. Cuts off Confederate supplies in the East

iii. June and July 1863, General Lee hopes to achieve a major victory by invading the Northeast

1. Takes his troops across the Potomac to Gettysburg, PA.

2. 3 Union troops led by General Meade are positioned in high ground giving them the advantage

a. Confederates attack to try to move the troops and fail

3. Rather than fall back, General Lee attacks the strongest part of the Union line

a. General George Pickett leads a group of soldiers across a field and charged Cemetery Ridge

b. The Union kills wave after wave of men in Pickett’s

Charge

4. On July 4, General Lee retreats back to the Potomac

a. Because of the high level of the river, they can’t cross it

b. The Union had finally defeated the great Confederate General Robert E. Lee

5. Confederacy is never able to launch another massive offensive against the Union

a. Union victories at Vicksburg and Gettysburg turn the tide of the war in favor of the Union

iv. In November of 1863, Lincoln goes to Gettysburg to honor the thousands of dead

1. Gave a short speech to dedicate the national cemetery there

2. The Gettysburg Address

b. The Union offensive

i. Union General Sherman would begin his march through Georgia and the Carolinas

ii. The Union and Confederates would meet at Chattanooga where the Union would take this important city

1. It was a gateway to the rest of the Southeast

iii. Confederates would turn right around and defeat the Union at Chickamauga

1. The Union would fall back to Chattanooga and be surrounded and under siege by the Confederates

2. Grant would arrive with troops from the Vicksburg campaign and attack the surrounding Confederates, defeating them

3. This would open up the way to head into Georgia

iv. Grant’s victories would earn him a promotion to general in chief to all the armies of the Union

c. The Union will hold presidential elections in 1864, during the war

i. Democrats run General McClellan

ii. More and more people wanted the war over and for peace negotiations to begin

1. Those that favored peace at any cost were called Copperheads

2. Openly opposed the Union war effort

iii. Lincoln thought he would lose the election due to low morale and McClellan’s popularity

1. With General Sherman’s victory in Atlanta, the Republican party united under Lincoln

2. Lincoln wins the election

d. After his victory in Atlanta, Sherman would cut himself off from supplies and communication lines and live off the land while he marched through the South

i. They destroyed anything with military or economic value

1. Railroads, crops, businesses and homes

ii. Captures Savannah Georgia and then heads to Petersburg Virginia to meet up with General Grant

e. Surrender at Appomattox

i. From May 1864 to the spring of 1865, Generals Grant and Lee meet repeatedly

1. Battles at Wilderness, Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor would cost Grant 60,000 men and Lee 30,000

2. Generals Sherman and Sheridan would reinforce Grant as he laid siege to Petersburg Virginia after trying and failing to take Richmond

3. General Lee would try to break through the Union lines only to abandon the effort and retreat West

4. Grant send troops out to cut off Lee’s escape South

a. Lee, exhausted and out of supplies, knows the end is near

ii. April 9, 1865, Lee and Grant meet in Appomattox Courthouse Virginia

1. Set terms of surrender

2. Shook hands

3. Great admiration for one another

f. Effects of the war

i. North rejoiced

1. Short lived as on April 14, 1865 Lincoln is assassinated

ii. Thousands of women left widowed or unmarried

iii. Lots of orphans

iv. 4 million freed African Americans with no certain future

1. Not equal citizens (it would be 100 years for governmental protections and freedoms: Voting Rights Act and Civil Rights Act)

v. Set in concrete that the federal government was supreme over the states

1. Settled the issue of states having the right to secede from the Union

2. States could not nullify federal law

vi. During the war, Republican Congress pass laws to encourage and direct the nation’s economic development

1. High tariff bill (1861)

2. Homestead act (1862)

3. Set aside public land for agricultural colleges, gave land to railroads to build a transcontinental railroad and established a national banking system

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